Project overview

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Project overview#

SETIER: Monitoring and evaluation of low‑cost sensors for wastewater‑treatment installations: water quality and energy#

The SETIER project was launched in 2019 in partnership with the Rhône‑Méditerranée‑Corse Water Agency, INRAE and IRD. Coordinated by INRAE (Stéphanie Prost‑Boucle and Rémi Clément), it builds on the global development of open‑source electronics and inexpensive, miniaturized, portable sensors. This trend makes measurements of water quality (conductivity, pH, turbidity, COD, temperature, redox, dissolved O₂, energy) increasingly accessible. The sensors enable finer spatio‑temporal monitoring (metre, minute) of wastewater‑treatment and resource‑recovery plants. This “SMART Project” approach expands rapidly to other environmental fields such as air pollution and hydrology. Open‑source tools provide high flexibility (measurement selection, sensor count, sampling frequency) and support a more sustainable practice by allowing component‑level repair and reuse.

On GitLab you will find three types of measurement stations developed in our laboratories, following a “LEGO” philosophy.This philosophy relies on:

  • sensors that have been laboratory‑validated to ensure performance and to meet the identified wastewater‑treatment requirements;

  • a solder‑free assembly strategy based on commercially available modules sold in France by specialist electronics distributors;

  • a comprehensive documentation sheet indexed in the repository.

Station 1 measures flow rate or water level; it includes a precision ultrasonic sensor with a range of 10 – 150 cm.

Station 2 is the physicochemical station; it includes temperature, electrical conductivity, redox, pH, and dissolved‑oxygen probes.

Station 3 is the energy station; it includes up to four current‑clamp sensors.

Station 4 is the pressure station; it includes up to four pressure sensors (water‑level measurement).

Documentation#

Online you will find documents required for assembly and use of SETIER stations. The documents are:

Articles and technical reports#

Low-tech flow meter:

  1. Guyard H., Prost-Boucle S., Sudre J., Moreau S., Imig A., Favreau G., Quatela V., Clément R. (2024) An open-source flowmeter for monitoring the input/output flow rates of wastewater treatment plants. HardwareX, OHX_e00613. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ohx.2024.e00613

Low-tech instrumentation and information about the SETIER project:

  1. Clément R., Imig A., Prost-Boucle S. (2025) Les contours d’une instrumentation durable. NOV’AE Numéro Spécial #04 RSE, p157-162. ISSN : 2823-2283 / e-ISSN : 2823-3980. https://revue-novae.fr/article/view/9695

  2. Prost-Boucle S., Kamgang-Nzeufo H., Bardot T., Moreau S., Guyard H., Duwig C., Kim B., Dubois V., Gillot S., Clément R. (2022) Capteurs bon marché et centrales d’acquisition D.I.Y pour les eaux usées : le projet SETIER. Techniques Sciences et Méthodes (TSM) n°1/2-2022-117e année, 35-44. https://astee-tsm.fr/articles/tsm-1-2-2022-prost-boucle/

SETIER 1 Project Report:

  1. Clément R., Guyard H., Imig A., Moreau S., Prost-Boucle S., Quatela V., Sudre J. (2023) Projet SETIER : Rapport technique du projet. https://hal.science/hal-04772378v1

Posters#

  1. Journées de la Mesure (J2M) : Sudre J., Prost-boucle S., Guyard H., Imig A., Quatela V., Dubois V., Moreau S., Clement R. Banc de démonstration SETIER, avec centrale Physico-chimique, Energie et Débitmètrique

  2. Conférence internationale EGU : Imig A., Guyard H., Prost-Boucle S., Quatela V., Moreau S., Sudre J., Clement R. (2024) The SETIER project: an open source flowmeter for monitoring flow rates of wastewater treatment plants. Poster. EGU, Vienna, Austria

Communications#

  1. Prost‑Boucle S., Clément R. (2021) Interest of low‑cost sensors for wastewater analysis: a complementary tool for station management? 100th ASTEE Congress, Paris, https://hal.science/hal-03727479

  2. SETIER: Monitoring and evaluation of low‑cost sensors for wastewater‑treatment installations: water quality and energy

  3. SETIER: Monitoring and evaluation of low‑cost sensors for wastewater‑treatment installations: water quality and energy

  4. Prost‑Boucle S., Sudre J., Imig A‑F., Clément R. (2022) The SETIER project: low‑cost sensors for wastewater analysis – complementary tools for station management. Network of Waste‑Water‑Treatment Plant Operators – GRAIE, Aix‑les‑Bains, FR

Prix et distinctions#

  1. Lauriers d’INRAE -2025 - Rémi Clément, créateur d’instrumentation ouverte. https://www.inrae.fr/dossiers/lauriers-inrae/remi-clement-createur-dinstrumentation-ouverte